Mike Swyter was the lone dissenter in a 5-1 vote that temporarily stopped the study of contracting out its busing until the end of this budget cycle, effectively keeping the transportation department within the district for the 2012-13 school year. Board member Michele Beneville was absent.

Though transportation employees lauded the vote, a number said they still expect the board, particularly board members Mike Swyter and Christopher Storey, to pick up the issue in the future. Bus driver Gary "Butch" Buckland, an eight-year veteran of the district, said he felt the two members had "held us hostage" by continually pushing the conversation.

Buckland was one of several transportation employees who showed Monday night to criticize the board's exploration of contracting out transportation. Many insisted longtime in-district employees would provide better quality services because they had a bigger stake in the community.

“I know the district is in very dire straits financially, but you can’t buy some of the things our transportation is offering right now,” said employee Karen Tondreau.

The board commissioned a transportation program study this August that compared Oregon City's busing costs with about 30 districts, and found it landed roughly in the middle. In 2010-11, the district's transportation expenditures were about $4.08 million, or roughly four percent of the district's budget.

Superintendent Larry Didway publicly rejected the outsourcing idea, arguing that the study found the district's transportation department was relatively efficient. He also said continuing the study would take away bargaining power from the district during union negotiations.

Some board members also expressed concerns with another district's ongoing litigation involving a 2009 law backed by the Oregon School Employees Association, which mandates a district completing a comprehensive cost-analysis before contracting out their services. A former Central Point bus driver filed a lawsuit against the district after its board outsourced its transportation to the nationwide First Student organization, alleging that the district had not thoroughly compared the cost-savings.

First Student is by far the most popular school transportation services contractor, providing busing to at least 32 Oregon school systems. A First Student representative also spoke at Monday's board meeting, which led board member Tim Frisius to chastise him as a "salesman" whose presence was inappropriate at the meeting.

Board member Carol Sturman, who has openly derided the idea from the start, helped push the motion to implement transportation program efficiencies found in the district's initial study before urging the board to close the book on the cost-analysis this year.

Other board members seemed ambivalent about reopening the conversation, but Swyter was unequivocal about his hopes to further pursue contractors in the future.

He has voted to cut several programs and many teachers before considering transportation alternatives, Swyter said, and transportation savings needed to be considered. “I think it is incumbent upon us … to look at alternatives to transportation, and that this goes across the board.”